


Scared of Spiders

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2017-09-24
Packaged: 2018-12-30 10:17:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12106557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: After a particularly dangerous adventure, Ydris becomes a little overprotective of Jack and Z. Jack belongs to SSO-Jack-Wolfwatcher and Z belongs to ZDusk.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SSO-Jack-Wolfwatcher](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=SSO-Jack-Wolfwatcher).



Jack liked to say that he loved all animals. Unfortunately, that was a lie. Maybe it would be better to say that he loved the animals that had four legs and a tail and two eyes. Not eight legs and covered in hair and with thousands of eyes.

Jack shivered as he sat on Dale at the bottom of The Cauldron. Mist caused fine droplets of dew to rest on his hair and glasses, and he knew that his hair would be a frizzy mess by the time it dried. But it was beautiful down here. And it was warm. Though, the many spider webs brought to light by the droplets on them made him a bit worried.

"You almost done, Z?" asked Jack, seeing his friend still collecting the seed pods from Phantom's back.

"Yeah, almost," said Z, picking one last seed pod from the plant before moving on to the next one.

"I'm pretty sure we've got enough for Camilla now," said Jack.

"Well, yeah, you've got the seed pods for her," said Z. "I'm getting them for my own personal use. And yours and Louisa's too, I guess, if she wants them."

"That would require eating," said Jack. "But we may as well offer. We're all in the same awful boat once a month." Though it was less often for him, but the other two didn't seem jealous. Nobody would want to be a messed-up trans guy.

"Yep. Maybe I can open a store and sell them," said Z. Jack snorted.

"Like you need the money," said Jack.

"All proceeds go to you and to animal shelters," said Z.

"Thanks, Z," said Jack. "Always nice to know you're looking out for me."

"Well, someone has to," said Z, picking off the final seed pod and putting it in her bag before straightening up. She turned Phantom around, and frowned. "What's that?"

"What's what?" asked Jack, and turned around, too. He felt a cold shiver go down his spine at the sight of the yellow eyes glowing in the darkness of the cave. The many, many yellow eyes. "Oh, shit."

"We should maybe leave," said Z. She began to ride up the slope, and Jack was right behind her. But then, he heard a scratching noise, and turned to look behind him. What he saw made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

Down in the cauldron, little black and brown spiders that looked like Alberta were swarming out of the cave, swimming across the water, and running onto the ground.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck," Jack whined, and Dale burst into a full-out gallop, flying up the hill as if he had wings. Jack really hoped that his horse remembered how to get out of here. He passed Z, who was also riding pretty fast, and was soon at the first split in the road. But then Dale whinnied.

"Spiders!" the horse warned, and Jack cried out in terror and clung tight to his horse's neck as Dale jumped over the little cluster of eight-legged demons.

"Why did it have to be spiders?" Z wailed behind him, and Phantom jumped over the spiders a few seconds after Dale.

The two of them sped up the hill, racing side by side faster than they'd run in any championship race. They only slowed down once they reached the farmhouse at Stormgarden, and were positive that no spiders had followed them. But both horses still pranced in place, though, and Jack and Z both frantically patted down their bodies to ensure that there were no stowaways.

"Ugh," Z shuddered. "The only good thing is that they're so fucking big that they're easy to see."

"And feel," said Jack, still rubbing his arms. "Shit, that was scary."

"I'm never helping Hayden again," said Z. "He can collect his own bugs or whatever."

"Good plan," said Jack. "Alright, we'd better go back to his camp."

"And tell him that we quit," said Z. Jack nodded, and the two of them rode back down into the Mirror Marshes, trying to calm down. Jack's heart was still pounding, though, and he was still shaking. Dale was pretty shaky, too, but they got to the camp okay. Although Jack seriously considered having Dale or Phantom step on Alberta. But then there would be spider babies everywhere, and that would be terrifying.

"You took your time," said Camilla upon seeing them. Hayden looked grumpier than ever.

"Well, gee, I'm sorry," said Jack, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "we just had to outrun a horde of fucking spiders!"

"Actually, it's called a cluster," Hayden corrected. "Kids these days, confusing their animal groups..."

"I don't give a fuck!" Jack snapped at him. He rummaged in his bag for the seed pods, and threw them on the ground. "Here, take the fucking things, I don't need them. I'm going."

Jack rode Dale out of the swamp, jumping over the stone fence and leaving Z behind to deal with them. He was halfway across the bridge by the time she caught up with him, and she only managed to catch up because Dale wasn't going very fast. The escape had tuckered him out, but Jack promised to give him a good clean and some fresh water and oats once they reached the caravan. Ydris would, of course, make all of that appear with his magic.

"How's the spawn?" asked Jack as he rode across the bridge with Z.

"Resting," said Z.

"Why can't Hayden go and get his own damn seed pods, or make a cache of them or something?" said Jack. "Instead of sending us to do the dangerous work."

"Ugh, I know, right?" said Z. "Everyone on Jorvik is so fucking useless."

"Tell me about it," said Jack. "But at least they pay us. Some better than others."

When they reached the highland, Ydris was already outside, waiting for them. Perhaps he'd been on his way to meet Jack, or maybe he was just out enjoying the sunshine. Alternatively, he'd just created a potion that was a little on the nose.

"Hello there, b- er, Jack," said Ydris, blushing upon seeing Z there too.

"I am kink-shaming both of you," said Z while Jack blushed. But Ydris could see that something had happened.

"What happened?" asked Ydris, seeing their scared faces and exhausted-looking horses. "Demons? Dark Riders?"

"Jorvegian Giant Spiders," said Jack. Ydris gasped.

"Egads!" said Ydris. "They're one of the most venomous spiders in the world!"

"Kinda glad I didn't know that beforehand, to be honest," said Jack. "But now I'm definitely never going to help Hayden out again."

"You didn't get bitten, did you?" said Ydris, coming towards his fiance and helping him off of Dale. Dale was glad to have his tack off once Jack took it off, and immediately found a patch of clover to roll in. Phantom did the same in another patch a few moments later, much to the amusement of his rider.

"Nah, we're good," said Jack as Ydris checked him over.

"Jorvik is far too dangerous," said Ydris. "Why do you have to do so many dangerous things?"

"I'm going to hazard a guess and say that it comes with the territory of being the protagonist of this anime," said Z. "Or Chosen One, I guess. Both are the same thing." She shrugged, but Ydris only looked concerned.

"Jack, please, you have to stop doing dangerous things," said Ydris. "You could be badly hurt!"

"Where'd this sudden overprotectiveness come from?" asked Jack.

"A little bird called Linda Chandler came over here to interrogate me on behalf of the druids," said Ydris. "She also happened to just casually mention that you almost died on the Dark Core oil rig." 

"Yeah, that happened," said Jack. "But I'm fine, see? My horse sprouted wings and saved me, I'm fine."

"But what if you'd taken the wrong horse?" said Ydris. "And, by the way, going back there to save some cats? What were you thinking, Jack?"

"I can take care of myself," said Jack.

"Dude, even I know that's a lie," said Z.

"Thanks," said Jack drily.

"And you too, Z," said Ydris, turning to her. "You do so much dangerous stuff every day. Even horse riding is dangerous. I know that Justin would be worried about you if he knew all of the dangerous things you do."

"Well, he doesn't, because he's in jail," said Z, looking hurt at the reminder. She turned and walked over to her horse. "C'mon, Phantom, we're going."

"Where?" asked Ydris.

"Away from you!" Z snapped, and quickly tacked up and mounted Phantom. They rode away towards Siverglade Village.

"Nice going, idiot," said Jack, and made to walk over to Dale. But Ydris stopped him.

"I'm sorry, but how would you feel if I went and did dangerous stuff like that?" asked Ydris.

"Worried," said Jack. "And I know you worry about me, but did you really have to bring up Justin? You know how Z gets whenever anyone even mentions his name." His phone vibrated, and he got it out of his pocket. It was a text from Z.

"Louisa suggested smashing open rocks for therapy," Z had texted. "You in?"

"Can I have permission to go smash open rocks?" asked Jack, looking up at his fiance.

"You make me sound like a controlling asshole," said Ydris. He wrapped his arms around Jack, resting his head atop the shorter man's head. "I'm just worried, that's all."

"I know," said Jack. "But can I go smash rocks open? Please, daddy?" Ydris' face turned very red.

"Wear warm clothes and check in with me every half hour," said Ydris. "And I don't want you taking the rickety old elevator or the dangerous path down."

"Then how are we supposed to get down?" asked Jack.

"Use the portal," said Ydris.

"Newsflash, asshole, it's broken," said Jack.

"Then I'll fix it," said Ydris with a shrug. "Tell your friends to meet us at the Secret Stone Circle."

"Alright," said Jack. As soon as the texts had been sent, Ydris' Pandorian spiral glowed brighter, and there was a bright flash. As soon as it had cleared, Jack blinked and squinted, finding himself in the Secret Stone Circle.

"Hmm, the wards are down," Ydris murmured. "That's alarming."

"Yeah, Fripp blew up the keystone and the portal trying to save me from Darko," said Jack. "Shit. Forget I said that."

"Oh, what are the druids doing to you?" Ydris bemoaned, wringing his hands.

"Trying to kill me, clearly," said Jack with a shrug.

"I should have words with them," said Ydris. "But I'm too afraid of them."

"I know," said Jack with a laugh. "Scaredy-cat. Scared of a bunch of tree-huggers."

"Jack, you have seen their magic first-hand," said Ydris. "You know exactly how powerful they are."

"Yeah, yeah," said Jack. The air suddenly rippled over in one part of the Stone Circle, and two riders rode out of the purple spiral that had appeared in midair. They were both dressed quite warmly, and Louisa rode a fjord while Z was on Phantom, as usual. Ydris cast another spell, and Jack suddenly stumbled under the weight of new layers of clothing on him. Rusty also looked quite alarmed at having been quite suddenly dressed and teleported. He stumbled a little, and sneezed. Jack steadied him, petting the Icelandic's neck.

"So why are we here?" asked Louisa.

"Because Mr Worry-wart doesn't want us using the elevator or path," said Jack, pointing at Ydris with his thumb.

"We could've used the balloon," said Louisa. "That's what I usually do."

"None of you are licensed hot air balloon pilots," said Ydris. "I don't trust it. You remember what happened to Nic."

"Alright, I'm not opposed to using the portal," said Louisa. 

Ydris stood in front of the portal, his Pandorian spiral eye glowing, and cast a spell. Pink sparkles surrounded the broken remains of the portal, and then there was a bright white flash. When it had faded, the portal was once more whole. Ydris placed the Dino Valley keystone on the pedestal, and the portal flared to life, glowing an inviting green colour.

Louisa rode through first, followed by Z, and, finally, Jack.

"Do you think he knows that the magic corridor is just this road hanging in the middle of space with magical geysers, no edges, and those weird magic things?" asked Louisa.

"Let's all agree to not tell him," said Jack.

They all agreed, and rode on together through the magic corridor and out the other side to the Valley of Frozen Mist.


	2. Alternate Version

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An alternate version where Jack does get bitten.

Scared of Spiders

Alternate Version

Jack liked to say that he loved all animals. Unfortunately, that was a lie. Maybe it would be better to say that he loved the animals that had four legs and a tail and two eyes. Not eight legs and covered in hair and with thousands of eyes.

Jack shivered as he sat on Dale at the bottom of The Cauldron. Mist caused fine droplets of dew to rest on his hair and glasses, and he knew that his hair would be a frizzy mess by the time it dried. But it was beautiful down here. And it was warm. Though, the many spider webs brought to light by the droplets on them made him a bit worried.

"You almost done, Z?" asked Jack, seeing his friend still collecting the seed pods from Phantom's back.

"Yeah, almost," said Z, picking one last seed pod from the plant before moving on to the next one.

"I'm pretty sure we've got enough for Camilla now," said Jack.

"Well, yeah, you've got the seed pods for her," said Z. "I'm getting them for my own personal use. And yours and Louisa's too, I guess, if she wants them."

"That would require eating," said Jack. "But we may as well offer. We're all in the same awful boat once a month." Though it was less often for him, but the other two didn't seem jealous. Nobody would want to be a messed-up trans guy.

"Yep. Maybe I can open a store and sell them," said Z. Jack snorted.

"Like you need the money," said Jack.

"All proceeds go to you and to animal shelters," said Z.

"Thanks, Z," said Jack. "Always nice to know you're looking out for me."

"Well, someone has to," said Z, picking off the final seed pod and putting it in her bag before straightening up. She turned Phantom around, and frowned. "What's that?"

"What's what?" asked Jack, and turned around, too. He felt a cold shiver go down his spine at the sight of the yellow eyes glowing in the darkness of the cave. The many, many yellow eyes. "Oh, shit."

"We should maybe leave," said Z. She began to ride up the slope, and Jack was right behind her. But then, he heard a scratching noise, and turned to look behind him. What he saw made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

Down in the cauldron, little black and brown spiders that looked like Alberta were swarming out of the cave, swimming across the water, and running onto the ground.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck," Jack whined, and Dale burst into a full-out gallop, flying up the hill as if he had wings. Jack really hoped that his horse remembered how to get out of here. He passed Z, who was also riding pretty fast, and was soon at the first split in the road. But then Dale whinnied.

"Spiders!" the horse warned, and Jack cried out in terror and clung tight to his horse's neck as Dale jumped over the little cluster of eight-legged demons.

"Why did it have to be spiders?" Z wailed behind him, and Phantom jumped over the spiders a few seconds after Dale.

The two of them sped up the hill, racing side by side faster than they'd run in any championship race. They only slowed down once they reached the farmhouse at Stormgarden, and were positive that no spiders had followed them. But both horses still pranced in place, though, and Jack and Z both frantically patted down their bodies to ensure that there were no stowaways. Z sighed with relief as she discovered no spiders on her body, not even in her slightly longer hair. But Jack felt a sharp pain at the back of his neck.

"Ow!" he yelped, instinctively smacking it. His hand collided with something far more solid than just a simple little bug, resulting in harder, more frantic whacks. "Get it off, get it off, get it off!"

The large green spider landed on the ground with a hiss, and Phantom reared with a whinny and stomped on it.

"Good boy," said Z, petting her horse's lovely mane.

"Yeah, you're a hero," said Jack. "Saving the world from that spider. I just hoped it laid it's eggs already." Phantom gave a disgusted snort and proceeded to scrape his hoof along the ground in a rather human gesture. Jack had to laugh at it.

"You alright?" asked Z, looking at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Jack.

"You're shaking," said Z.

"So are you," said Jack. "I'm shaking because I'm fucking terrified. And the adrenaline, I guess."

"Adrenaline doesn't usually give you blurred vision or a dry mouth, Jack," said Dale.

"I thought I'd just... lost my glasses or somethin'," said Jack, taking his gloves off to wipe his sweaty palms on his knees. But the motion caused him to wobble, and he would have fallen if Z hadn't been there to hold him.

"We should go see a doctor," said Z. "You were bitten, weren't you?"

"Yeah," said Jack. "That's probably something we should..." But his words trailed off as darkness encroached on his vision. He heard the muffled sound of someone calling his name, and felt a flare of heat in his veins for only a moment before the blessed blackness of unconsciousness slammed down on him.

"What happened to him?" Ydris' voice was still muffled when Jack could hear again, but it calmed him to hear it. At least, it calmed him until the fire in his veins returned. He cried out in pain, opening his eyes, and saw Ydris looking down at him with concern on his face and... was that blood on his hands?

"What's happening?" asked Jack. "Why does it burn so much?" He knew he was dehydrated, being well-acquainted with that particular malady- his throat and mouth were dry, he could feel his heartbeat through every inch of him, and his head had joined in the symphony of pain now, attempting to pound itself into oblivion.

"Shh," Ydris hushed him, putting a bloody finger to Jack's lips and then placing cool hands on his forehead and cheeks. "Z, tell me exactly what happened. How was he poisoned?"

"He was bitten by a Jorvegian giant spider," said Z. Ydris gasped and immediately started paging through his large spell book. Or his bestiary. It was a large book, anyway.

"Oh, no no no," said Ydris. "What were you even doing near them?"

"Gathering lobster claw seed pods for Alberta," said Z. "Ungrateful little shit."

"No, wipe your hands first, you're getting blood all over the book," Jack murmured, feebly trying to get up. He looked like he was on death's door, he was so weak.

"What's he talking about?" asked Z, looking in concern from her friend to Ydris.

"He's hallucinating," Ydris muttered, his eyes on the book as he frantically scanned the text. "Ugh, I need to put an index in this thing."

"Maybe Louisa or Linda would help," said Z.

"Yes, I'll ask them later," said Ydris. "Finally! The Jorvegian giant spider, yes yes, I know it's incredibly dangerous and fatal if not treated quickly, give me the antidote already!"

"Don't argue with your books," Jack murmured, his speech beginning to slur. He was trembling quite violently now, and Z put a hand on his forehead, biting her lips in concern.

"Hurry," said Z. "He looks like a ghost."

"Well, he'll be one soon if I can't find this fucking antidote!" Ydris hissed through grit teeth. "Aha! Finally!"

"Do you need me to get anything?" asked Z. Ydris closed his eyes and sighed after he read the ingredients list.

"You're not going to believe this," said Ydris. "Did you, by any chance, bring some lobster claw seed pods with you?"

"Yeah, as soon as Jack got bitten, I came straight here," said Z. "I was going to take him to a hospital or vet, but I figured you'd be able to fix him faster."

"Thank you," said Ydris. "Grab the seed pods and a few five leaf clovers. Four should be enough."

"Quick question, are those clovers in all of your recipes?" asked Z.

"Yes, of course," said Ydris, nodding and waving her away. "Now, go. And hurry. Depending on where Jack was bitten, he might not have long left."

"He was bitten on the back of the neck," said Z. Ydris gripped the table tightly to hold himself up, and Z darted out of the room.

Once Z returned with the ingredients, Ydris threw them all together with a dash of magic and mixed it quickly. Then, he poured some of the green, goopy mixture into his hand.

"Turn him over for me, please," said Ydris. Z nodded and did as he asked, though she worried at how pale and sweaty Jack was. Also at the way he didn't protest. She removed his glasses too, setting them on the bedside table.

"Please just be asleep," Z muttered, but she could feel Jack's pulse through his skin. Even when Ydris rubbed the paste into Jack's bite wound (which was larger than an average bug bite and oozing blackish blood), Jack didn't wake up. His hands had been clenched into fists, but they relaxed now.

"That should help for now," said Ydris. "Now we just need to hope that he wakes up."

"Isn't an antidote usually injected?" asked Z. "Antivenom, I mean."

"Usually, yes," said Ydris. "Unfortunately, the Jorvegian giant spider is not a normal creature."

"Yeah, I can see that," said Z. "Will he be alright?"

"I hope so," said Ydris, suddenly sitting down quite heavily on the bed. He hung his head in his hands, and Z didn't know what to do. She didn't know if she should comfort him, or just leave him alone with his boyfriend.

"Do you need anything?" asked Z.

"Actually, yes, I would like an explanation," said Ydris, raising his head. Z could see that his cheeks were wet with tears, and he looked drawn. "What the hell were you thinking, going down into The Cauldron?"

"It's one of our daily tasks," said Z. "And those seed pods are really useful."

"Then have someone else fetch them!" said Ydris. "Don't risk your life just for a bloody spider. Especially not when said spider almost killed my fiance."

"Actually, it wasn't Alberta who bit him," said Z. "It was another spider. We were chased out by a whole group of them."

"Oh, heavens," Ydris whispered. "And you're sure you weren't bitten?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," said Z, nodding. "I'd probably be like Jack if I was, huh?"

"Sadly, yes," said Ydris. "But you're okay. And that's good. What about the horses?"

"They're fine," said Z. "Phantom squished the spider that bit Jack."

"Good boy," said Ydris, smiling. "That saves anyone else from being bitten."

"He probably needs some fluids or something," said Z. "Do you have any way that he can get them?"

"Yes, but I'm shaking too much right now to draw the runes on," said Ydris. "I know you don't like magic, but do you think you could grab your rune wand and trace these runes?" He got up and picked out another book, this one slightly slimmer, which he gave to Z.

"Well, I guess I am an artist," said Z, sliding her rune wand out of her pocket and looking through the book for the right runes. The hydration one was a simple drop of water in a circle, which looked easy enough to draw. "Where do I draw this?"

"On the side of his neck," said Ydris, turning Jack's head slightly so that Z had a stable surface to draw on. "Don't worry about him moving, either. I'm afraid that the poison has already sent him into a deep sleep."

Despite her nerves, Z's hand was steady as she drew the hydration rune onto Jack's neck. It seemed to glow a pale blue, and rippled as it sank into Jack's skin. Next, she looked for a pain-killing rune.

"Is this right?" asked Z, showing the rune to Ydris. "Getting rid of the pain won't harm him, will it?"

"No, if anything, it will only make him comfortable," said Ydris. "And that won't harm him."

Z drew this rune on Jack's neck near the bite mark, and she was concerned to see the small red lines coming out of the wound.

"Is this normal?" asked Z, pointing to it.

"Shit," said Ydris, and grabbed his big potions book, searching for a potion to fight infection. "How is it infected already? It only happened a few minutes ago."

"Too bad we can't just use normal antibiotics," said Z.

"They won't act quickly enough," said Ydris. "We have to hurry."

When Jack woke up, the first thing he noticed was that the pain was gone. His blood no longer felt like it was boiling, his skin felt normal, albeit itchy with dried sweat, and his head wasn't pounding. There was something dry at the back of his neck, though, which he scratched at. He looked around, alarmed at first that his vision was still blurry, but then he remembered and reached over to pick up his glasses. His arms ached slightly, as though unused to movement.

It was the middle of the day, judging by the warm light coming in through the red curtains. Jack could see little motes of dust swirling through the air, and a sleeping magician in a rocking chair. Strange. He didn't remember Ydris having a rocking chair.

"Y-" Jack tried to say his fiance's name, but he coughed instead. His throat was so dry. Fortunately, the sound awoke Ydris, and the magician jumped to his feet, sending the rocking chair rocking wildly.

"Jack! Oh, thank heavens you're awake," said Ydris. "Stay there, I'll just get you some water."

Jack chuckled as Ydris conjured a bottle of water from nowhere and gave it to him, helping Jack to sit up. Jack drank it gratefully, relieved at the feeling of cold water sliding down over his tongue and down his throat.

"That's so much better," said Jack, once his throat no longer felt like a desert. He'd finished his bottle of water, and Ydris gave him another one to sip on.

"I'm just so glad that you're finally awake," said Ydris.

"Finally?" Jack repeated. "Shit, how long was I out?"

"Weeks," said Ydris. "You almost died a few times. I gave you the antivenom, but your body struggled with fighting it. If it weren't for strength runes and hydration runes, and Z helping me out whenever I asked... I would've lost you."

"Sorry," Jack muttered. "I shouldn't've worried you like that."

"You've got to stop putting yourself at risk," said Ydris, and Jack felt pained at the pain in his fiance's voice and eyes. "I know you literally have a death wish, but please, please don't scare me like that."

"Hey, you know I didn't do it on purpose," said Jack, trying to pull Ydris into his arms. Ydris wrapped his arms around his fiance tightly, and Jack could feel him trembling.

"Please, just... I know I'm going to sound like a right asshole saying this, but please don't put yourself at risk like that again," said Ydris. "And don't leave me for a few days, at least. I need to see you and hear your voice and know that you're okay."

"Well, I still feel like shit, so no worries there," said Jack. "I'll stay here and rest for a bit, just until I'm back on my feet."

"Oh, good," said Ydris. "What do you need?"

"Help me to the bathroom?" said Jack. Ydris nodded and helped him out of bed, then helped his boyfriend walk over to the bathroom. He gave him privacy, though, staying just outside the door while Jack flushed the toilet and then had a rather long shower. Ydris was beginning to worry after twenty minutes had passed, but then Jack walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around himself.

"Feel better?" asked Ydris.

"Yeah, that helped quite a bit," said Jack. "Thanks." He gave his fiance a kiss, and Ydris was glad that he could return it.

Jack stayed in Ydris' wagon for a few weeks, feeling stronger and better every day. He didn't mind his fiance waiting on him hand and foot, though he was getting a little antsy by the end of those few weeks. When he got a text from a friend he hadn't seen for a while, he jumped at the opportunity to get out of this wagon.

"Well, you look like you're going somewhere," said Ydris, smiling to see his fiance putting his boots on.

"Yeah, the girls and I are going rock smashing in Dino," said Jack.

"No!" said Ydris, surprising both of them.

"Excuse me?" said Jack, looking at his fiance.

"You just got better and you want to go tromping into the valley?" said Ydris. "What if you get pneumonia or slip and hurt yourself or set off some kallstone?"

"I'll be fine, the other two'll be with me," said Jack. "And I'm taking Rusty, so we can make a hasty escape if needed."

"I'm not too happy about Z going, either," said Ydris.

"You're worried about her and not Louisa?" said Jack.

"I'm basically Z's surrogate father," said Ydris. "Of course I worry about her, too. Especially knowing how much reckless stuff she gets into. I know that Louisa will be fine, though, she goes to Dino all the time and she's actually careful."

"Well, I wanna go," said Jack. Ydris sighed.

"I suppose I can't really stop you, can I?" said Ydris. "You know that I'm just worried."

"No, you can't stop me from going," said Jack. "I'll be fine, Ydris. We'll take the balloon over and stick to the roads."

"And do any among you have a license to pilot a hot air balloon?" asked Ydris. "I've seen and heard horror stories about them, you know."

"That was on a TV show," said Jack. "And we've taken the balloon there and back like a billion times. It's perfectly safe."

"Accidents can happen," said Ydris. Jack sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Well, it's safer than the elevator," said Jack. "And that difficult, slippery path down the cliffside. Which I had to race down once." Ydris looked pale just at the thought.

"No, you can't go that way," said Ydris.

"Then how are we supposed to get in?" asked Jack.

"There is a portal in the Secret Stone Circle," said Ydris. "You can go that way."

"Newsflash asshole, it's broken," said Jack. "Fripp broke it trying to save me from Darko."

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" said Ydris.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that," said Jack. "I wasn't going to tell you, actually."

"He's gone now so it's fine," said Ydris, though Jack had the feeling that his fiance was talking to himself. "Alright, I'll fix the portal. But first, you need to fetch your horse and the warmest clothes you have."

"Yes, boss," said Jack, but he smiled as he left the wagon on Dale and returned on Rusty, clad in the warmest clothes he had. It was too hot for him here with these clothes on, but he knew that he'd be grateful once he got to the valley. Also, it would make Ydris feel better.

"Have you told the others to meet us there?" asked Ydris.

"Yep," said Jack. "I told Z to dress warm too, and bring a cold-tolerant horse. She probably won't, though."

"As long as she's dressed warm," said Ydris.

"Yeah, she will be," said Jack. "Let's go."

"Wait," said Ydris, and snapped his fingers. A scarf appeared in his hand, which he wrapped around Jack's neck. "That's better." The gesture warmed Jack more than the scarf, and Jack had to grin and kiss his fiance before they teleported away.

The two of them arrived in the Secret Stone Circle to find two women wrapped in several layers of clothes on their horses already waiting.

"I feel under-dressed, looking at you," Z joked, seeing the scarf that Ydris had wrapped around Jack's neck. Jack blushed.

"You can never be too warm," said Ydris. Jack smiled, chuckling, and they chatted for a while while Ydris walked over and inspected the broken portal gate.

"If you manage to fix that, we might be able to travel back and rescue Anne," said Louisa.

"Not today," said Ydris as he straightened up and held his hands out. The Pandorian spiral around his eye glowed brightly, and the broken pieces of the portal gate lifted up off the ground and slotted back into their regular place. Several pieces even came from over the cliff, but there were still some fragments missing. These ones, Ydris replaced using new ones made from magic. The portal probably wouldn't work as well, but they could just ask Magnus Steinar to make some more when he had the time. Right now, though, Jack was impatient to be off, and Ydris wanted to make his boyfriend happy.

"But what about the keystone?" asked Z. "Avalon has the Dino Valley one."

"Fortunately, I have one too," said Ydris. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue-glowing rune stone, which he sat on the pedestal. It floated there, and a green portal appeared within the portal gate. "Text me when you're there and when you want to leave, the portal gate isn't stable enough to stay open for very long."

"We will," said Jack. He embraced his boyfriend. "Thanks for doing this."

"It goes against my better judgement, but I prefer you to be happy," said Ydris, returning the hug and kissing the top of Jack's head. "Be careful."

"I will," said Jack with a sigh as he walked back to mount Rusty. He rode through the portal first, eager for an adventure, and was soon standing on the road in the middle of nowhere with his two friends and their horses.

"Should we tell him that the portal road is more dangerous than any other way?" asked Louisa.

"Definitely not," said Jack. "He'd have a heart attack." Z laughed, and they started along the road together.


End file.
